In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Zakynthos (alternatively Zacynthus) was the son of the legendary Arcadian chief Dardanus

Dardanus

In Greek mythology, Dardanus was a son of Zeus and Electra, daughter of Atlas, and founder of the city of Dardania on Mount Ida in the Troad....

. The name, like all similar names ending in -nthos, is pre-Mycenaean or Pelasgian in origin.

Dardanus' children by Batea

Batea (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the name Batea refers to the following individuals:* The daughter or the aunt of King Teucer. Her father was the ruler of a tribe known as the Teucrians . The Teucrians inhabited the area of northwest Asia Minor later called the Troad , and the term is sometimes used as...

 were Ilus

Ilus

Ilus is the name of several mythological persons associated directly or indirectly with Troy.-Ilus :Homer's Iliad mentions at several points the tomb of Ilus son of Dardanus in the middle of the Trojan plain...

, Erichthonius

Erichthonius of Dardania

The mythical King Erichthonius of Dardania was the son of Dardanus or Darda, King of Dardania, and Batea,...

 and Idaea

Idaea

Idaea can mean:* Idaea, a genus of geometer moths, including I. aversata, I. biselata and I. seriata* In Greek mythology :** Idaea, a nymph, wife of Scamander and mother of King Teucer...

. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Attistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.-Life:...

 (1.50.3), Dardanus also had a son named Zacynthus by Bataea and this Zacynthus was the first settler on the island afterwards called Zakynthos

Zakynthos

Zakynthos , also Zante, the other form often used in English and in Italian , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It covers an area of ...

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Zakynthos is depicted on the flag of Zakynthos

Flag of Zakynthos

The flag of Zakynthos, Greece, or Flag of Zante, has a dark green background with an orange depiction of Zakynthos, the mytho-historical first resident of the island and its namesake, in the centre. Zakynthos, partially draped in a robe, is sitting on rock holding a semi-coiled snake to the right...

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